The Not So Perfect Beginning
by siriusismyhero
Summary: "The wedding was an absolute disaster. It had rained the entire time they were on their honeymoon. And now, when Lucius and Narcissa returned home, they found that Malfoy Manor had been broken into. Not the greatest start to their marriage."


**The Not So Perfect Beginning**

The wedding was an absolute disaster. It had rained the entire time they were on their honeymoon. And now, when Lucius and Narcissa returned home, they found that Malfoy Manor had been broken into. Not the greatest start to their marriage.

The Ministry had been called immediately, but that was half an hour ago and no one had showed up yet. Lucius had given Narcissa strict orders not to touch anything, so she had taken to wandering around the house, looking at the damage. She had tried to avoid the bedroom, unable to bear the thought of all of her most important possessions being rifled through and taken or destroyed. But there was one thing that she felt she just had to check on.

The damage wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, in all honesty. Yes, she and

Lucius' possessions were thrown about the room, but very little was broken. Mostly it was clothes that had been rifled through, but she did notice that one of her boxes in particular had been thoroughly searched. It was the smallest box she had brought with her to Malfoy Manor, and contained mostly junk that she couldn't bear to toss. Narcissa began to slowly shift through the remnants of the box when she stepped on something. She removed her foot and bent down - a tiny crystal vial was lying there, or rather, what was left of it. The delicate stopper was all that was left, but Narcissa did notice a dark stain on the carpet where it had spilled over. She noticed that the potion that had been inside the vial was filling up the room with its vile stench, and Narcissa bit her lip. She had been hoping that she would be able to sneak the potion into the house without Lucius noticing, but he would no doubt recognize the smell of the drug as soon as he entered the room.

Narcissa pulled out her wand and began to perform a deodorizing charm on the stain, wondering why that vial, of all the potions in her possession, had to be the one that was broken. Unless, of course, the robber had been looking for the potion specifically.

That train of thought made Narcissa start. There was only one person who would be desperate enough to break into the Manor to retrieve the potion, but why in the name of Merlin would Bellatrix want it that badly?

"Narcissa!"

Lucius' booming voice echoed throughout the house and Narcissa winced. He had sounded angry, which was not something she was looking forward to dealing with.

Slowly, Narcissa made her way down the stairs. When she stepped onto the main floor, she noticed Lucius standing with an important looking Ministry Official, barking at him angrily, "We have been _robbed_ and you can't do anything?"

"You misunderstand me, Mr. Malfoy. I will take a look around and see what I can find, but with all of the wards on the house, the robbers must have been professionals... or close friends of yours."

"No friends of ours would stoop so low as to robbery!"

"Which is why it is very likely that they were professionals, and it isn't likely that they left any evidence behind."

"This is outra-"

"Lucius." Lucius' head whipped around to face Narcissa, anger bubbling over his normally calm exterior. She forced her voice to remain calm and dignified. _One_ of them had to be. "Let the man do his job. I'll make you a cup of tea."

"I don't want a cup of tea, I want answers!"

"And I'm sure that you will get them if you let the man do his job. Darling, please." Narcissa gripped Lucius' arm gently and he glared at her for several long moments before heaving a heavy sigh, nodding and allowing her to pull him into the kitchen.

As she prepared the tea, she allowed Lucius to rage on about the ridiculousness of the whole situation. "Never in my life has an unwanted person stepped into Malfoy Manor! The wards are the best of the best!"

Narcissa merely nodded, her thoughts no longer on the robber, or even the robbery, but _why_ Bellatrix had wanted her potion. Because she was certain now that it was her sister who had broken into the house. As she poured the tea for Lucius, Narcissa went over the possibilities: perhaps Rodolphus was cutting Bellatrix's money off and she couldn't afford the potion herself, Merlin knows she wouldn't steal the potion for Narcissa's well-being. Or maybe she was planning on using it as blackmail against Narcissa. She could see Bellatrix succumbing to either possibility, sad as it was.

Narcissa glanced up at Lucius, who hadn't even looked at his cup, but had begun to tap his fingers irritably on the counter and was half-stood. "I'm going to go check on-"

"Drink your tea, Lucius."

It was more of an order than a request and Lucius knew it. His lips flattened into a thin line and he slowly lowered himself back into his chair before taking a short sip of his tea. Narcissa folded her arms across her chest as she watched him slowly drain his cup. By the time it was finished, he was considerably calmer, though still unwilling to just wait around for the man from the Ministry to finish his inspection.

Narcissa followed Lucius upstairs, where the Ministry Official was inspecting the bedroom. He was waving his wand in slow, circular motions, muttering quietly to himself. Narcissa's stomach clenched and she stared at the potion stain on the carpet. She waited nervously for something to happen - a glow, or puff of smoke, or some such thing, but after a minute of watching him, and nothing happening, Narcissa started to relax - if he hadn't found anything right away, it was unlikely he was going to notice the potion after a few minutes of inspection.

It seemed Narcissa was correct: after a few more moments of wand twirling, the wizard dropped his wand with a sigh. "I'm not getting any readings." He told them after he had turned around, "If the robber had left any traces of him or herself, I would know by now."

"So you're giving up?" Lucius asked, anger in his voice once again.

"No, sir. But I would like you to take an inventory of your possessions."

Lucius bristled. "Why does that matter to you?"

"Depending on what was taken, it could point us in the direction of the robber."

Lucius looked none to happy about this proclamation, but Narcissa took Lucius' hand and agreed for him. "Of course, we'll do whatever it takes." _So long as I keep the potion a secret..._

The wizard bowed his head at Narcissa and left the room. Lucius surprised Narcissa by sighing heavily, sinking onto the bed and putting his head in his hands. Narcissa's heart nearly stopped beating when his foot came dangerously close to stepping on the stopper of the vial, but when he neither moved his foot, nor noticed the crystal, she allowed herself to breath again. Narcissa took a few steps closer to her husband, focusing her attention on him, rather than the vial. "What is it?"

"None of this was supposed to happen." He lowered his hands and looked up at her miserably, "With the disaster at the wedding, and the miserable weather in Italy and...and now this...I know it's not how you pictured your wedding."

Narcissa sat down beside her husband and took his hands in her own, but not before toeing the stopper under the bed. "Lucius, what matters me to me is that we stick together through this. Our wedding was fine - it was the reception that was the disaster. Besides, Bella had the perfect wedding, and look how her marriage has ended up."

Lucius made a face at the mention of Narcissa's older sister, "Bellatrix. If it weren't for her we might have had a better start."

"Don't blame Bella. She just...can't hold her Firewhiskey."

Lucius shook his head, but didn't push the matter, and neither did Narcissa. She knew that it would probably take him a long time to forgive Bella. But if he found out who had broken into the house, or the reason behind it, he probably never would forgive Bellatrix - or Narcissa.


End file.
